SHILLONHG: As the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is likely to be introduced in the Parliament in the next couple of days, Union Minister of State for Youths and Sports and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju has downplayed the impact of the Bill on the indigenous communities of the North East.
Talking to media persons here in Shillong on Thursday, Rijiju said that the matter pertaining to CAB was being discussed and the Union Home Minister himself had heard the views of different groups of the region about their concerns.
“The concerns of the indigenous people of North East is being addressed and being considered,” he said
The BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh also said that when final bill would come for discussions, it would become very clear that the indigenous population of the North East would be well protected and given all support by the Union Government.
“There is nothing to worry for the indigenous people of the North East,” he said.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya Government, different political parties and NGOs have already expressed their opposition to the Bill as the Bill seeks to provide citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians from neighboring counties.
The CAB was introduced in Parliament prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but got lapsed after it could not be cleared in Rajya Sabha. It is now likely to be tabled in Lok Sabha on December 9 and taken up for discussion and passage the next day.
If passed by the Parliament, it will be the first legislation under which nationality will be granted on the basis of religion.
Granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians, escaping persecution was an election promise of the BJP in 2014 and 2019.
Though the Union Government is thinking about exempting the ILP and Sixth Schedule areas of the North Eastern states from the purview of the Bill , the NGOs in Meghalaya have already started their demonstration against the Bill.